Maid from a Different Cloth
by fanficslave
Summary: She thinks of herself as a shadow, always stuck behind someone else and too shy to take the spotlight. She is determined to overcome her fears though so that she can reach her dream! Her efforts remain mostly unnoticed until the fateful day she catches the passing glance of Takumi Usui. Once she catches his attention, he's focused. he found one secret, will he find her others?
1. Chapter 1

A.N.-I'm not sure how long I plan on this being right now. Currently I really only have plans to post one testing chapter. However, I do know exactly where my story is going to go plot wise, I'm just not sure if it will be worth it to turn it into a long story like that so I guess I'll see if it gets any reviews and decide then.

Hikari thinks of herself on a good day as plain (at best) but most days she sees herself as more of a shadow, always stuck behind someone and never able to take the spotlight. It was always rather an ironic joke to her dear brother that her name meant 'Light' as her greatest fear was always being in the center of the spotlight. She is determined to face her fear and become stronger in order to accomplish her dreams for the future. When she entered high school she decided it was time to work seriously to overcome her fear. She has been working diligently but like much else in her life, her efforts mostly remain in the shadows without anyone noticing..

Until Usui Takumi takes notice of her. It should've been nothing more than a passing glance really before he continued on with his normal life but something caught his attention for another second. When a second glance leads to Takumi taking notice of one of her best kept secrets, how will she handle this new obstacle in her life? This will be a challenge like no other she has faced but that's not all her secrets and how will she keep the rest of her secrets away from someone as determined and unwavering as Usui Takumi?

Note: For plots sake, in my story Misaki does not work at Maid Latte. Her father did walk out on them but when he left he did Not leave them in debt! This means they do not have a lot of money as the mother works to support the family of three by herself, however, they also aren't in grave danger money wise since they have no additional debts to pay. Because of this, Misaki is still money conscientious and attends Seika High because of the low cost as well but there is no immediate need for her to work while attending school to help support her family.

Disclaimer-I do not own Maid Sama!

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Hikari Aikawa considered herself to be a rather plain person in most ways and she firmly believed that her looks reflected that. She was rather short, even for a girl, at five feet and unfortunately no inches and a very slight petite build. Her slight build left her with also a normal size bust. Her hair remained long to her waist with bangs and was black, a very normal color that many people shared she thought. The only feature that she took special pride in was her eyes. Her eyes were a light, piercing blue inherited from her mother and she was so grateful she received that particular gift to remind her of her mother every time she looked in a mirror. Despite loving her eyes so dearly, not many people had the luck to see her eyes as she tended to keep herself hidden with her hair. She resolved once again to herself that this year she would conquer her fear of people and attention and break her shell, for her dreams sake.

That was what she resolved but it left her here once again standing behind the Student Council President, letting her take charge as Hikari stood in the background avoiding the confrontation. Hikari held a stack of papers close to her chest as Misaki yelled again and when one of the boys getting lectured tossed a hatred filled glare Hikari's way, she found herself tilting her head slightly down so her hair fanned her face hopefully hiding herself.

"And I told you to take those out!" Misaki yelled.

Hikari really didn't like confrontation but her resolve to become more outgoing really was paying off. A couple of years ago, confrontation (even one such as this) would have her near tears. She lifted her head once again, silently berating herself for her moment of weakness and hoping her face wasn't red, and watched as Misaki ripped a thug like students piercings from his ears.

Hikari's eyes went wide as she watched the three students run off. "Ahh! M-Misaki, don't you think that was a little too harsh?" she asked concerned in her normal soft voice as she finally spoke up.

"No way! These stupid boys don't understand anything until I make them!" Misaki took a deep breath, "Sorry, Hikari. I didn't mean to sound so harsh with you. You really are like a pearl among swine but you can't be so soft on them or they'll take advantage of you." Misaki bent close to her face and smiled softly at her. "I really worry that one could take advantage of your kind nature one day, so if any of them give you trouble like these guys, then please tell me immediately, ok?"

She could feel her face turn red at Misaki's sincere face. "No! Please don't worry."

Before she could continue they heard a crying and Misaki once again turned like an avenging demon stalking the hall to find the source. She really admired her friend, Misaki, and she strived to be more like her but Misaki seemed so far out of her reach. She was everything Hikari wasn't, strong, outgoing, assertive, and not afraid to stand for what she believes. Hikari sighed as she shook off her darkening thoughts and once again followed after the President.

When she caught up to Misaki, she was once again lecturing a boy student but this time Hikari recognized the boy in question. How could she not? It was Takumi Usui and everything about him shined, not like her who basically existed in the shadows. Everything from his hair color to his personality stood out which was why he was the most popular guy at Seika High but she couldn't help but feel bad for him. Just imagining how much attention would come with such a position as most popular made her shiver in fear. He must be strong because there was no way she could brush off all of that attention as naturally as he seemed to.

When Misaki was done yelling at Usui for making a girl cry, she stomped off, but Hikari hesitated to follow her for a second too long as she was lost in her thoughts. She felt bad for him. It really wasn't his fault that he didn't want to date that girl. She shook her thoughts off and noticed that Misaki was getting further away and turned to catch up when a voice broke her actions.

"So are you going to lecture me too?" Usui asked in monotone.

Her eyes went wide and she felt herself turning red once again as she found herself the sudden focus of attention. He had taken her off guard by speaking to her so abruptly. 'Curse her pale skin that always blushed about Everything!'

"Ahh! N-no! O-of course not. I-I mean everyone is entitled to their own feelings and you shouldn't be punished for not feeling the same way!" Hikari waved her hands in front of her frantically as if to ward off any anger he might have as she stumbled over her words softly. She had spoken so fast that she wasn't even sure he understood everything. She took a deep breath and held it for a second and she pushed away the feeling of looking like an idiot.

Once she had regained her breath, and with it her heartbeat, she opened her mouth to speak softly once again. This time she had calmed down and she spoke slowly. "I think I can understand how frustrating it must be to be the focus of unwanted attention so I couldn't possibly lecture you. After all, it isn't my place to lecture anyone." She gathered courage and continued softly, "Um, but a-also I-I think it takes a lot of courage to let yourself be so vulnerable. I think it's really admirable that someone could be brave enough to open themselves up and show another person what's in their heart like that s-so.." She gathered breath and for the first time she looked straight up into Usui's eyes and held his gaze as she spoke the next part with resolve. "Please don't take it so lightly! When girls are honest and brave enough to open themselves up then please don't stomp on it so carelessly, even if you don't feel the same!"

Hikari saw Usui's eyes widen slightly for a second and realized how demanding she may have seemed. Just like that, her brief courage was gone and she spoke quickly again. "I-I mean t-that's just my opinion though! I'm so sorry for taking up your time!" She bowed briefly before turning and rushing the way Misaki went hoping that she could bury herself in Student Council work to forget her flaming embarrassment. It was made worse by the fact that she realized her blush had not once receded and she hoped it would go away quickly. As she made her escape she never once noticed the eyes of one Takumi Usui following her down the hall until she went out of sight.

"Hikari, are you still working on that? Why don't you finish that paperwork tomorrow? I'm so lucky to have such a competent, hard working girl as my vice president. If only the rest of the student council could be so helpful," Misaki sighed as she packed up her school bag.

School had been over for awhile but diligent as ever, the president had chosen to stay a little later to finish up some work. Hikari couldn't in good conscious allow her to do all of the work on her own, after all, it was her job as vice president to take care of all this work so that their amazing president could focus on keeping the students in line and improving the school.

"You really take your job as president seriously, Misaki. I really admire that," Hikari whispered as she packed up the paperwork to do at home, that way the president wouldn't have to do it tomorrow on her own. It was the least she could do to help and pay Misaki back for everything she did for her and the school.

"You're so sweet," Misaki beamed at her before she seemed to fire up with determination. "But of course I take my job very seriously because those lazy boys don't care at all! They run this school into the ground before I kicked them into shape! Who knows what would happen if I slacked off. I'm going to work hard to polish this school until it shines and I'll get rid of that boy stench once and for all."

Hikari almost wanted to protest at her exaggeration but she was more used to Misaki's strong opinion of the male gender by now and all that came out was a slight giggle. She didn't agree with Misaki's harsh treatment against boys but Misaki would react so strongly that she couldn't help but find her reactions funny.

"Well, I better be off or I won't have time to help Suzuna make dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, ok Hikari?"

Hikari waved Misaki off before turning to the opposite direction, wondering if she would have time to stop by the house for long but then Misaki's words hit her again. Time..dinner.. It couldn't be, could it? It couldn't be that late could it? Hikari hurried her steps as fast as she could without running. If it was getting that late, she didn't want to be late.

It took longer than she would have liked but thankfully Hikari managed to make it to work in enough time to get ready for her shift which she was ecstatic about. One thing she hated more than anything was being late. She could list reasons such as it being unprofessional or undignified but the truth was, she mainly hated being late because it would draw attention to her.

Hikari dressed in her work uniform and did her breathing exercises that she did every time she worked. The breathing exercises did wonders for putting her in the mindset to work here but no matter how better she was getting at the job, she still got anxious every time she put on the uniform and walked out there. Out of all the jobs she could have picked, this particular job was possibly the worst choice of all.

If anyone found out that the extremely shy vice president of Seika High worked at a Maid Cafe of all places, Hikari might actually die, literally. That's right, she worked at a cafe called Maid Latte which included wearing an extremely embarrassing maid uniform every day. Not even her family knows that she works there and she wants to keep it that way but no one would ever believe it anyway.

When she wears this and walks out there, she is no longer Hikari Aikawa. She must pull on a new persona and do her job. Hikari breathes deep one last time as she reminds herself of this, chanting it to herself before she straightens her back and heads to greet a customer who just arrived. She gives a shy but sincere looking smile as she welcomes the guest and guides him to a seat. When she leaves the table she would never be able to tell anyone the man's eye color but she smiles nevertheless at a job well done; because hey, it's still a work in progress, ok?

It was close to the end of her shift for the night when she began going through the routine of cleaning up since the customers were very thinned out at this time of night. She tied up the bag of trash in the kitchen to take it out, happy that it would be one less thing to take care of when her shift was over.

Just another normal night at Maid Latte after a normal day at school. That is, it was normal until threw away the trash bag in the alley beside Maid Latte and turned to see someone beside her. Some very familiar..and blonde. Her eyes widened and she froze in shock.

"Well, isn't this a surprise, Miss Vice President," Takumi Usui's smooth voice cooly stated almost as if uninterested but his eyes were a different story. His eyes seemed incredibly intense focused on her and even with her eyes focused above his own, she could feel them boring into her.

Hikari unfroze suddenly as she unconsciously let out a distressed squeak and her breathing picked up entirely too fast to be healthy. She couldn't bare to stay and face that stare, or even worse, talk, so she panicked and stuttered something of an excuse. She couldn't tell what tried to come out of her mouth but it might have amounted to something along the lines of "trash, work, busy, go" with a lot of stutters in between. Then she ran back inside to safety and away from Usui. Any other time, she would have been proud of herself for sticking around long enough to even try to offer an excuse before running off instead of just running the second she saw him but right now she was too panicked to care.

Hikari collapsed in the corner of the kitchen where hopefully no one would see her. Her breath came out in fast bursts as her heart still pounded entirely too fast in her chest. Now someone knew and not just anyone but Takumi Usui. All it would take is one word and everyone in the school would stop to listen to him and they would all find out. Everyone would know about her job, as a maid, and-oh gods, this isn't helping.

Her heart was still pounding too fast and she could feel her stomach turn over again and again, making her slightly nauseous. It was one thing to work here as a maid where no one really knew her. She could pretend to be someone else and the thing that helped her do her job the most was knowing that even if she made a fool of herself, these people didn't really know her. But now, someone from school who knows her has found out. This would ruin everything.

She was still curled up in the corner panicking when Honoka saw her there and yelled before realizing what or who it was.

"Oh no!" cried the manager, "You look terrible! Are you sick? Maybe you should go ahead and go home, it's slow right now anyway."

The manager was always so sweet and worried about her. She was such a burden and she could have hired anyone better suited for the job but she had liked Hikari and hired her anyway. She had even been nice enough to help her in any way she could to make her feel more comfortable and helped her along every step of the way. She couldn't let her down this way. The manager gave her a chance and she didn't want to let her down by not doing her job because of her own problems.

"N-nno. Ttats alright. I-i'll be fine." Hikari was finally on her feet again, even if it was a little unsteadily. She braced herself and focused on her determination to do a good job. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience," she bowed before rushing off to do her job.

The last part of the shift was by far her most clumsy and awkward since she had first been hired but she made up for it with her determination to finish her job and she patted herself on the back for at least not breaking anything or breaking down in tears. She had forced her stress and worries about Usui to the back of her mind and resorted to chanting to herself to distract from thinking about anything that would cause her additional stress while working.

"It's ok. Everything will be fine. I'm strong and brave," she chanted to herself softly as she changed clothes. Her shift was finally over and as stressful as it was, she was glad she could finally go home and hide in bed for the rest of the night..or maybe the rest of the week.

She stepped out of Maid Latte and sighed in relief at the cool air. She had been so stressed in there that she didn't realize how much she needed the fresh air until now. She would focus on ignoring her problem so as to avoid extra stress.

"Oh, you're back to normal," a voice spoke in front of her and someone else listening might have thought there was almost a hint of disappointment in that sentence or maybe mock disappointment.

Hikari jerked her head up in surprise and for the second time that night, saw Takumi Usui standing outside of Maid Latte, this time leaning against the wall staring at her. "U-usui! Y-you're still here!? Wh-what are you doing here?" she spoke fast as she usually did when nervous.

Usui's expression remained flat and hard to read and he began stretching out his legs as he spoke (which implied he really had been standing here the entire time waiting on her) but his voice carried a curious note. "Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to make sure for myself that our vice president cross dresses as a maid." He stared at her, never moving his eyes as he catalogued her reactions.

Hikari lost the battle with her skin again and felt herself turn red. She could almost feel herself getting angry, but why? Her embarrassment overrode everything else. "I-it's not-! I-I ddon-!" Hikari stuttered trying to put words together but every phrase got cut off as she realized it would be a lie.

"So, why are you doing this kind of job anyway?" his curiosity shone through his words. "You know, it's really surprising that you would work at a place like this." He continued to observe her.

Hikari took a deep breath. He wasn't really accusing or being rude yet and it helped calm her to talk. Maybe he would just leave her alone without telling anyone. It wasn't really that much of a stretch to think of. After all, he was known for always being apathetic and seemingly bored with everything and everyone. Hikari was torn from her thoughts as she heard voices. She really didn't want to bring attention to herself out here, especially with Usui here.

"I'll tell you but please follow me!"

They had arrived at a park close by but it was night so the park was empty. Hikari wandered for a second as she tried to gather her thoughts and what she would say. She couldn't lie so her best bet would be to just tell the truth and hope that he would agree to keep her secret. She resolved herself and took a seat on a swing. All of the stress was making her breathing hard so she sat for a minute to catch her breath.

Her voice was soft as always but surprisingly steady. "It's not like you're probably thinking. My family isn't dirt poor or desperate enough for money that I have to work at a place like that. The..the truth is, that I chose to work there myself but not because of the money."

She chanced a glance at Usui at this point and he had taken a seat in the swing next to her. His eyebrows lifted in surprise briefly and she moved her gaze and continued.

"I suppose you must have noticed but I'm dreadfully..well I, I can't handle confrontation well and I-i'm not good with people or in crowds or with anything where I'm the center of attention really." She almost struggled to explain. It was stupid, but it almost felt too embarrassing for her to just say the phrase 'I am shy'.

"You mean shy, I never would have guessed," he deadpanned.

Her face attempted to take on a small pink shade across her cheeks and nose. She could feel cheeks puff out her lip come out slightly in a pout for only a second before she controlled it.

"Well, I-" she blew air out thinking of the words to explain. "I have a dream," she breaks off and buries her head in her hands with an embarrassed groan. "Oh my gods," she murmured, "What am I saying?"

If she had looked up she would have seen Usui watching her closely with a smirk on his lips before he cleared his expression.

She shook her head to clear it and tried again. "I have a..goal. I have something that I want to accomplish one day more than anything but it won't be easy. One of the biggest obstacles in the way of that is my..shyness. If I can't get stronger and conquer my fears then I won't be able to achieve my goal. What I want to be..what I want to do with my life. I won't be able to accomplish it unless I can stand in the light without running away." She looked straight into Usui's eyes for the second time today and her eyes flashed with determination.

"That's why I took this job. Initially, you see, I thought that if I was to get any kind of job it would overcome my shyness, no matter the type of job. Getting a job where people depend on me and I have to deal with crowds, coworkers, and work I thought would be a perfect way to try face my problems and I thought if I can do that and get used to it then I would be overcoming my fears a little at a time. When I was looking for a job, I came across the ad for Maid Latte because I was looking for jobs in different towns, that way the risk of seeing someone I know is a lot less. Maid Latte paid a lot more so I visited to see about applying and it was terrifying. When I saw the uniforms and everything else, I panicked and tried to run but I ran into the manager, literally, who had just come inside the door.

I was so flustered that she brought me to the back to cool down and she saw the ad for the job that I had been holding. I told her why I was looking for a job and that I might not be very good but she took a liking to me for some reason and she hired me on the spot."

Hikari looked down at the dirt finally done with what she needed to say and she waited on Usui's response.

"So, that's how it is huh. So what's your goal anyway? Is it really that important that you would put yourself through this? Couldn't you just pick another goal?"

Her head hung even lower for a second at his words. "Everyone, they've always said I can't do it. Even all of my family except my brother, say I won't succeed so they won't give me a chance. They say I'm too weak, too meek, too much of a pushover to ever succeed, all because I'm shy."

Suddenly her head shot up and she continued firmly and more loud than he had ever heard her before. "No. This is my goal! I might be shy but that doesn't mean I'm weak! Just because I'm shy everyone overlooks me but I want to prove them all wrong!"

Usui, who had started staring up at the stars as he listened, now tilted his head down slightly and glanced out of the corner of his eye at her expression.

"Hmm. Whatever your goal is, it sounds like it'll be tough. Do you really think you can do it? Do you really think someone like you could succeed?" he said softly.

Anger rose up, making her clench her fists and glare at Usui slightly as he reminded her of everyone else who doubted her and said she couldn't do it. "I don't think I can! I know I can do it! And I'll prove it, just you wait and see!" Then she turned her head away from him as her lip pouted out a bit. She had gotten so caught up in telling someone that it had felt almost upsetting when she realized that she forgot he wasn't on her side. She forgot that this was practically a stranger, not a friend who would support her, no matter how strangely comfortable she was starting to get around him. It was odd how easy it had been to talk to him now.

"Well, good luck, Miss Vice President."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I wasn't sure whether to keep writing on this but I got a review! Honestly, I wasn't really expecting to get a lot of interest in this since it's an oc story and there doesn't seem to be much interest in that with Maid Sama! But I was glad I got a review! So here you go, hope it isn't too bad, AnimemetSoul.

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It's been three days since Hikari's run-in with Usui and she found herself getting more and more anxious and paranoid as the days passed. She spent her days constantly watching the faces around her at school, scared that everyone was staring and talking about her. She was in such a constant state of anxiety that it was making her nauseous.

Hikari slunk down the hallway with her hair fanned around her. Were those boys looking at her? They were grinning, too! She let out a frightened squeak and hurried through the halls in search of Misaki. In the recent days, Hikari had decided it was best to stay close to Misaki at all times. Misaki was so strong and brave that it felt like the safest place would be close to her and surely if news about her job got around then Misaki would know and ask her about it.

She took a deep breath as she spotted the student council president stalking through the halls ahead of her. Hikari fit herself at Misaki's side seamlessly without any additional attention and she chose to stay quiet and think.

When she had returned home after the meeting with Usui three days ago, she had been shocked when she realized how much she had told him and how long she had stayed at that playground talking to him. It might not seem like much to others, but to someone like her, it was shocking to realize afterward how comfortable she seemed to feel with him. She can't help but remain anxious around people, even close friends. In fact, it usually takes quite a long while for her to normally get to point where she can feel comfortable enough around someone to act without restrictions.

She is always so anxious about saying or acting the right way with someone that she can't be truly herself around others but something about Usui makes him different than others. Perhaps it was his attitude or something like his aura, for lack of a better word. People could be exhausting for her sometimes because most of them seemed so ...loud. Their reactions were loud and personalities were loud. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but while Usui was so bright as a personality, he was also calm. It was like he carried calmness around him, even if he was reacting loudly to something.

That seemed to make her feel comfortable enough to not feel as anxious with his calmness there. Hikari shook her head harshly. 'Stop thinking nonsense!' The truth was she was just so shocked that she was trying to think of a logical reason why she had little trouble talking to him so openly. He even had a way of getting under her skin a little with his teasing.

"Hikari!"

"Ah! Yes! I'm sorry." Hikari jumped at the sudden voice in her ear and looked at Misaki who was studying her worriedly.

"I called you like three times but you didn't hear me. Are you ok? You know, you are looking a little pale, you're not getting sick are you?" Misaki leaned close and felt her forehead.

"No!," Hikari said embarrassed. Her voice went soft again as she continued, "I'm sorry for worrying you. I was just lost in thought, about the paperwork I need to work on for the clubs, you know." She gave Misaki a gentle smile to convince her everything was fine and resolved to stop getting lost in her own head. 'There's no sense in worrying others just because I'm worried about something that is my own fault.'

"You really should stop worrying so much about everything."

Hikari blinked, surprised at the new voice that cut in on their conversation. A look to the side showed Sakura and Shizuko approaching the two council members. "Yes, you're right, Shizuko. Thank you for your concern." She smiled at the new arrivals sincerely.

The two had started as mostly Misaki's friends but Misaki's forceful nature ensured that shy Hikari wasn't left alone and so the girls took her into their folds. Hikari was grateful because they truly were all sweet girls in their own different ways.

Sakura clasped her hands together and stared up at Misaki with a bright look on her face, but then again, Sakura always seemed to have a bright look. It was just her personality. "Misaki, we have a really big favor to ask you," she begged.

Hikari stared at the large punching bag blocking the stairway. Sometimes people could be inconsiderate, she sighed. The favor had been this. Now she was standing aside as they discussed a punching bag.

"Misaki, it's really heavy."

Hikari looked to find Misaki grabbing the bag by herself. "Ah! Misaki! You shouldn't do that alone. You'll hurt yourself if you overdo it," she said worried about her friend.

"Just leave it to me," Misaki said.

Hikari hurried to the other side of the bag and grabbed on. "You don't have to do things alone. I'm your vice president so it's my job to take some of your burden for you, ok?" Hikari smiled softly. She would never forgive herself if her friend hurt herself overdoing it because Hikari had just stood back and did nothing.

Misaki looked at her with a rare gentle smile for a moment. "Ok then. Let's do it together."

Together they lifted the heavy bag and Hikari worried that she would hold Misaki back. She wasn't nearly as strong as her so maybe Misaki really would have been better off doing it alone. But nevertheless, Hikari didn't stop. She held the bag as high as she could even though her hands shook once as they carried it and place it outside of a nearby door. When they were finished she smiled, proud of herself for being able to carry the bag evenly with Misaki without dragging it down.

After the president yelled at the boxing club, Misaki was happily taking in the praise from Sakura and Shizuko but Hikari was happy to stand aside just glad that she had been able to help.

"Please take this as a token of thanks," Shizuko handed Misaki a flower but then turned and held one out for Hikari also.

"Oh," Hikari gasped, her eyes wide. She knew there was a blush on her face and she smiled back sincerely. She wasn't used to getting thanks or attention for something so small. "Thank you very much but I really did not do much."

"Of course you did," cried Sakura, "you're so sweet, our own angel vice pres and Misaki is so strong! Hey wait, isn't that Takumi Usui?"

Hikari jerked in surprise at the sudden statement and turned to look. After seeing Usui staring at her, (why is he staring at her?) she tensed and was torn between wanting to run away or asking why he was staring. Was he going to mention her job?

Luckily, Misaki solved her problem for her by shouting, "Hey, what are you doing over there?"

Usui stared at her for a second longer before exhaling a "Hmph" and turned, walking away without so much as a glance at Misaki or the others.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked.

"I have no idea. What was his problem anyway?" Misaki muttered.

"Usui sure is handsome though, isn't he?" gushed Sakura.

Hikari widened her eyes once again as she listened to Sakura gush about Usui but she refused to think any deeper on that topic. She had enough problems with Usui currently without trying to think about if he was handsome or not but she believed you could only fall in love with someone's personality and soul. Anything else she believed was just skin deep, attraction or lust, and as such, it wasn't worth pursuing. Maybe that was just her though, or as many people liked to tell her, maybe she just didn't have enough experience.

"I just don't see what everyone sees in him," said Misaki

Suddenly, it hit Hikari. She had been so worried and paranoid that Usui was telling people that she had forgotten his personality. Maybe that was it. Usui never paid attention or seemed to care about what was going on and he didn't usually get involved with anyone else's problems. She had been so worried that she overthought everything again.

'Of course,' she smiled relieved. 'Why would Usui care or waste his time on my problems? He probably wanted to know because he was curious but now that he knows he probably doesn't care at all.' That thought more than any other helped to relieve many of her worries that had persisted over the past few days but she couldn't help the instinctive bit of stress that stubbornly hung around.

Hikari continued her day feeling lighter, that is, until the middle of her shift that night when she heard the bell ding signaling a new customer at Maid Latte. She held her server tray to her chest and turned to the door at once to greet the customer but the words died on her lips and her face lost color as she stuttered.

"U-usui! W-why are you here?" her soft voice almost squeeked.

Takumi Usui stood in the doorway of the cafe staring at here but what disturbed her most was his expression. His expression seemed to be flat and hard to read, just like the other times she had talked to him.

Due to Hikari's inability to talk as much to other people, she instead became rather adept at reading people. It was a skill that not many (probably just her brother) knew about. Her skills were useless against Usui, however, and she was always left drifting wondering what he was thinking about.

Usui's green eyes stared through her without moving and she tried to shake herself out of her anxieties. 'Why was he here? Was he here to tease her? What was he feeling or thinking? His expression stayed just as flat as before until she heard the waitresses behind her whispering about the "hot" customer.

Suddenly, Usui's expression became less flat but he still kept a straight face as he said, "Ah, I found you."

Hikari's mouth opened a bit and she stared, almost bewildered, as she tried to find words or figure out what she was supposed to do. The longer he stared the more she wanted to pout to herself. He had to be here to tease her. 'Don't go saying 'found' like you didn't know where I was,' she thought to herself. Maybe he was testing her to see if she really could do this job to accomplish her dream. That made sense, right? 'It doesn't matter! I can do this! Just pretend it's any other customer and don't..look..in his eyes.'

Hikari bowed to the customer-'not Usui, not Usui, random stranger, random stranger'-and said softly, "Welcome back, M-mmaster." She thought she was doing so well but as she reached the dreaded last word with the knowledge of Who exactly she was talking to, she lost the battle with her complexion again and her face flooded red. She raised but kept her face staring slightly down towards his chest rather than his face which she couldn't look at just yet. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'I didn't have to bow. I panicked.' She cursed herself and turned even more red as she realized she had probably made herself look worse.

She was cursing herself until she heard a snicker in front of her and she snapped her eyes up to Usui's face. He had his head turned to the side, glancing at her from the side of his eyes, as he snickered once into his hand.

Once again she was reminded of how easily Usui seemed to get under her skin (and her mask) as she grew annoyed and she puffed her cheeks out unconsciously and she pouted slightly in annoyance at his reaction. He was doing it on purpose, he had to be!

As she led Usui to his table and came back to take his order, she was almost glad for his teasing though. Her annoyance at Usui seemed to override her embarrassment enough to act normally as she waited on Usui. After dropping off his drink, she hoped he would be leaving soon but even as she placed the drink down and left his table, he continued to stare at her.

He said nothing else to her, but his eyes followed her through the entire cafe and unnerved her. Her face kept heating up every time she realized he was still staring so intently. She really didn't handle being under such constant scrutiny well.

The manager approached her towards the end of her shift and whispered in her ear. "Hey Hikari, is that guy your boyfriend? It's like he can't keep his eyes off of you," Satsuki was practically swooning.

"No! I-I mean, no i-it's not like that!" Hikari shook her hands in front of her, warding off the words.

When her shift was over she felt mentally and physically completely exhausted. She still had some of the club forms to finish but decided to put them off until the next day. Hopefully the status quo would return to normal soon because she wasn't sure how much longer she could handle this.

The next day she was glad she was glad to see that she had no run ins with Usui during the day but it went to the back of her mind as she went about her day. She grabbed some more forms that had piled up needing approval and took them with her. She would do them when she did the other forms later. Misaki always had so much of the work to do, so it was really the least she could do to take some pressure off. Especially since Misaki also had responsibilities at home like helping her family.

Her stress returned that afternoon in the form of one Takumi Usui. At this rate, she was almost becoming used to serving him at Maid Latte. What she wasn't used to was her manager embarrassing her with talk about their non existent love life.

"I just know there's something between the two of you. Just look at those puppy dog eyes of his," Satsuki swooned.

Hikari denied the accusation once again but couldn't help but look towards Usui to see what the manager could possibly be talking about. At the moment she turned to Usui, he turned and looked in her eyes. She jerked back, blushing, and rushed back to the kitchen to finish her duty.

With enough of this teasing, surely she would become used to it eventually and then she wouldn't have to worry about blushing about nothing all the time. That would be the one good point of this.

With all of the stress recently she had forgotten about the test scores being posted the next day. Her family always expected perfection, even if they didn't care enough to check. She knew they wouldn't be happy with these scores if they checked her scores. Luckily, they rarely cared enough to ask or check her grades or such. She had come in third place. It was a great place considering the two above her were Misaki and, of course, Usui himself.

That wouldn't make her parents happy though. She had been so stressed lately, that even though she exhausted herself studying it may have done more harm than good in her state. Because of her stress, she hadn't done as well as she should've. It was just another stress to worry about later, she sighed as she went to try to calm Misaki down. Misaki was mad that Usui had beaten her and as Misaki's friend, it was her job to help her feel better.

When she followed Misaki into the classroom, she found some boys getting worked up and Misaki was holding a magazine that had obviously just been confiscated.

"You're right," Misaki said to the astonishment of the rest of the students. "I'll make sure to investigate this matter immediately. Any inappropriate material is banned no matter who is in possession of it. In the meantime, please let me know what you would like to read, both boys and girls."

Hikari was able to grasp what was going on as another girl in class said, "But that means you'll have to look through all of it. You're way too busy to do all of that by yourself."

"It's fine. It's my duty as student council president," Misaki replied but Hikari softly cut in as she leaned close to Misaki, not wanting to talk to the entire class.

"I can do this Misaki. You can focus on investigating whatever matter you need to and it's My job as Vice President to help you with the little things like this. You just worry about the big things."

"I can't ask you to do that, Hikari," Misaki smiled. "It's my responsibility."

"It's mine too, Misaki. Don't wear yourself out."

"I guess we can split it then," Misaki finally relented a bit.

They stayed late working on council work together, each with their own massive pile of magazines. Hikari could feel a harsh headache building in the back of her head and behind her eyes but she pushed through it. She said she would help with these and if she didn't get them finished fast enough, then Misaki would take them to do them herself and that would defeat the purpose. She would be useless again, just a hindrance to Misaki like she was to so many others. No, she wanted to help. She pressed her fingers deeply into her forehead in an effort to abate the ache just for a moment before returning to her work.

"Umm, president?"

Hikari looked up to see the speaker to be a member of the student council and he was standing in front of Misaki's desk.

He was obviously nervous and Hikari absently placed him as the treasurer before he stuttered, "Last weeks balance sheet didn't add up and I-i thought m-maybe you could take a look?"

Misaki growled at the now shivering boy. "You're useless! Forget it, I'll do it myself." Hikari watched Misaki put her own hand to her head in a gesture that almost could have mimicked her.

Hikari gave the boy a shy smile hoping it would help calm his nerves as he apologized and hurried out. "Misaki, would you like me to try to take a look? You look like you could use a rest," she said thinking about how Misaki looked to be getting her own headache.

"No. You're already doing too much for me." Misaki sighed as she looked at all of her work. "I think I will take some work home though so I can get rid of this headache.

"At least let me take the rest of your other work so that you can focus on the treasury. That's more important anyway, right?" Hikari smiled at Misaki and could almost forget about her own headache and the nausea that has been turning her stomach for hours (or perhaps days).

Misaki sighed before smiling at her. "Alright, you win. I got quite a bit done anyway so there's not as much left in mine. But don't overwork yourself ok? If you can't finish it then don't push yourself."

"Don't worry. I definitely won't let you down!" Hikari exclaimed happy that Misaki trust her with it.

Hikari was left there alone finishing her work and honestly she liked it better that way. Even if it was her friend Misaki, she still felt pressured when working in front of others, as if they were waiting for her to mess up.

Now, she was more determined to finish the work for Misaki though, so she once again dived into her work with more force this time only stopping once or twice for a moment when she had to hold her head from pain.

"What, are you some kind of masochist?" a male voice rung out through the quiet room.

Hikari jumped in surprise and was embarrassed to realize that she had definitely squeaked also. She jerked her head to look at the doorway where Usui stood, casually leaning back against the door jam. "What are you doing here?" her words rushed out until she realized what he had just said a moment ago and her blush came out, albeit delayed.

"You seem to really enjoy punishing yourself," Usui said, ignoring her question and looking straight ahead instead of looking at her. "Oh wait, but that would be sadism."

"U-usui?!" she stuttered blushing. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed or annoyed at his teased but she was leaning towards a confusing mix of the two.

Her fast and sudden jump up from her chair was making her a little lightheaded and she closed her eyes for a second before focusing on Usui again.

"You should really give yourself a break once in awhile. Seeing you like this is-"

Just then her dizziness took over and she swayed on her feet but before she could tip over Usui was there holding her up.

"Whoa, that was a close one," Usui's voice was entirely too close to her ear.

Hikari took a moment as her lightheadedness passed before the implications of what happened hit her and she jerked forward.

Her face was flushed as she turned to face Usui after backing away to the other side of her desk. He just kept teasing and showing up, seeing through her when she didn't want anyone to see her. His words almost sounded worried but she knew that couldn't be it. He didn't actually know her that well and why should he care about some random girl? It made no sense except that he really must like teasing people just to get his amusement.

"Please don't do that," she said weakly. Then she straightened her back and looked in Usui's eyes. "I don't need help, Mr. Usui. Thank you very much and I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I can do this on my own. I don't need any help from any one." She firmly stared at him willing herself not to look away, to get her point across. She wasn't that weak. She could do this. She wasn't useless anymore. She could do it.

His face turned blank and it wasn't until that moment that she realized just how Not blank it had been before even though she couldn't read him. When had his expressions started looking..almost soft? "Yeah. Right," he stated and walked out, just like that.

Suddenly she didn't feel any of the determination or false confidence that she had a moment ago. She was filled with regret. Maybe she had been too harsh. What if he hated her now? Wait, that didn't matter. She shook herself off and gathered her work to take home so she could finish after work.

Her shift at Maid Latte was Usui free which should be a relief but on top of all her other stresses this just seemed to cause her additional upset. Her biggest problem was doubting if she had hurt someone, even the slightest, and his absence now was bothering her a lot more than it should because of her words earlier.

'Don't be silly. I didn't say anything really harsh,' she scolded herself.

She had just taken the trash out and the slight breeze against her face felt good against her warm skin. Maybe she did need a break. She felt as if she was making herself sick. Overwhelming anxiety had caused her to make herself sick in the past quite a bit but it hadn't happened in so long and she thought she was stronger than that now.

"There's no time for a break though. Maybe I can take one when I'm all done. I have to finish the paperwork, the magazines, and I need to study more. Then when it's done, I'll take a break but maybe Usui really was just trying to help."

There was nothing more she could do now. She couldn't disappoint anyone by leaving her work unfinished.

"Wait, is that Vice President?"

The new male voice shocked Hikari out of her thoughts and she jerked her head to the side to see the three delinquents from school that Misaki was always getting onto for one thing or another. If she remembered their names correctly it was Shirokawa, Kurosaki, and Sarashina which she only knew because they were always in trouble.

Panicked, her eyes widened. This was exactly what she was scared of but now that it had happened she was too frozen to do anything and she felt weak with sickness.

"Seriously? A Maid?" said the blonde one, Shirokawa.

"Ah man, we have to call everyone up!"

They stepped closer and the two followers behind Shirokawa pulled out their phones. When they stepped closer, she finally felt herself unfreeze and she stumbled back, then turned to get back in the building.

"Trying to run away? I don't think so." A hand grabbed her wrist and held her back tightly.

She knew she was already flushed from possibly fever but it made her more emotional too. She could almost feel tears hiding behind her eyes waiting to fall.

"You know, the President just harrasses people left and right but you're just the president's lap dog right? You act so much better than us at school, never talking to anyone except the President and acting all shy, but you're actually a maid?"

"T-thats not it. I don't think I'm better than anyone. Pplease l-let me go," she stuttered out tugging at her wrist trying to escape the hold.

"Oh I don't think so. You're gonna stay here and serve us personally," he smirked.

She looked in front of her to find one of the other guys in front of her with a phone recording them and she knew her eyes must be wet but thankfully she had held the tears back from falling. She wouldn't let herself cry in front of people.

"Say cheese."

"Say master or something. That's what you're supposed to say, right?"

"Who knew that the angelic, shy Vice President had a side like this? I guess she can look girly too. Dressing like this makes you even cuter." Shirokawa's hand got closer to her and she couldn't get away. She closed her eyes.

Then she heard a small slap sound that seemed to echo through the alley and there was an arm around her shoulders, protecting her from the others.

"That doesn't give you permission to touch her," a familiar voice said harshly.

Hikari gasped and looked back to see Usui staring hard at the three. The desire to cry had never been so strong as it was now that she felt relief that Usui had saved her despite what she said.

She never noticed the three idiots panic at seeing Usui.

Usui never let her go as he moved one hand up to her forehead. "Oh man, you're burning up." One more glare at the three delinquents sent them scurrying away.

She slumped slightly. His arm and hands felt strong and for once she felt safe with someone else. Maybe she could rest for a moment if it was him. "Usui," she mumbled softly and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so rude when you were just trying to help."

Usui's own voice said gently, "It's alright. Just get some rest."

When Hikari awoke, it took her a couple of minutes to get her bearings. When she realized that she must have collapsed on Usui she was suddenly feeling ill again. She groaned softly.

She spent the next day getting lectured by her brother who nearly wanted to keep her home forever after he had gotten the call at home about her collapsing at work. It took a lot of promises to work past his overprotective tendencies to return to school. She also had to return Usui's scarf which took a special kind of verbal maneuvering since she definitely didn't want to know what her brother would do if he knew it was from a guy.

When she returned to school she waited until she had break and went in search of Usui. She was still stressed about her secret getting out but with it taken out of her hands already it left her surprisingly clear headed. No one acted any differently yet and it would either happen or it wouldn't. There wasn't anything else she could do about it.

She made her way to the roof where she hadn't checked yet. He was there sitting, leaning back on his hands and facing away from her but he must've been expecting her because he spoke without turning. "Don't worry. Those guys won't out you."

"Really? That's..surprising. Did you, do something?" she said hesitantly.

"Not really. I just told them that I was enjoying our little secret and I'd appreciate it if they didn't mention it to anyone."

Hikari couldn't help the small glare and pout that appeared on her face. "So you have just been getting a kick out of teasing me."

Usui tilted his head back a little and stared at her from the side of his eyes with a smirk. "Well, if I said I was worried, you would get upset, right?"

Hikari opened her mouth to refute that claim. She hated making people worried but she wouldn't get ups-she closed her mouth again as she realized. But she had. Usui had tried to help in the council room but she had gotten upset with him.

She blew breath out in frustration at herself quietly and walked over to him.

"I don't think it would be so bad if everyone found out though. There's nothing against the rules about being a maid and there's nothing wrong with it."

Hikari looked to the side at him in surprise but he wasn't done.

"And wearing a maid outfit doesn't change the fact that your smart, and brave, and incredibly hard working, and self sacrificing to a fault. I think you should be proud of who you are and what you've accomplished."

Hikari's eyes were wide and her face flushed but she was confused. Why would he say that about her? She couldn't think of anything in any of their interactions that would have led him to make this conclusion. It made her feel, strangely, very happy that he thought she was all those things but also worried her because she felt she would let him down when he realized she wasn't like he thought. He made her sound like some great person, but she wasn't. She wasn't like that and she didn't want him to think she was because she didn't want him disappointed in her later so she wanted to show him now that it wasn't like that.

She needed to try to express herself honestly. She took a deep breath and looked to the sky so she didn't have to look at him. "I-i'm not. I'm not any of those things. I just try my best. To be honest, when I was resting at home, I realized that you really..you really frustrate me!"

"Hey, you know what I said was really good," he muttered.

She ignored his words and continued, "You really frustrate me because..because everything seems to come so easily to you. And you seem so far out of my reach and I'm struggling so hard just to keep standing but you just run like it's no sweat," she cut off for a second before continuing softer. "But most of all, you really frustrate me because you make me forget that I'm supposed to be racing at all." He had the grades, the bright personality that attracts everyone, the calm aura, the perfect..everything. And it should upset her that everything comes so easily to him without trying when she struggles and works hard for everything, even something simple like conversation. But that's what annoys her the most..that she should be mad at him for teasing her like that but instead it feels like he can bring out her real self without even trying.

She kept her gaze on the sky so she wouldn't lose her nerve and she missed Usui's eyes flick to her and widen briefly.

"It really annoys me, it's like you're constantly teasing me with how far ahead you are and normally I can see everyone but you're so far ahead that I can't see you and I have no idea what you're thinking or why. But when I was in trouble you still came back to help me. One day though, one day I'm going to keep getting stronger and I'll be able to see you too. Just wait. I won't quit, Takumi Usui!" She looked down at him to find him already staring at her. She still couldn't read his expression, but she realized now that was ok. It would be a new challenge, to learn Takumi Usui.

Now that she was looking in his eyes, his stare was getting to her and she held up the bag in her hand. "O-oh. Here is your scarf. Thank you for everything. I really want to pay you back for what you've done but I, ahm, wasn't sure what to do. I t-thought about baking something but I wasn't sure what you would like or if it would be a burden. So, uhm, if there's anything I can do for you then please let me know."

Hikari stared at Usui waiting on his response and resisting the urge to fidget as he tilted his head and smirked at her. "Well."

"Yes?"

"I would really like..for you to be my personal maid for a day," Usui said with his smirk still visible.

Her face burned red and her cheeks puffed out subconsciously for a moment but his stare never wavered and she had to break the stare, covering her face with her hands. She did Not (maybe just a little) whine through her hands, "Usui! Stop teasing me!"

"No way. It's way too much fun."

"Usui!"


End file.
